Chapter 1

Beep, beep! Harmony's crimson eyelids creaked open the tiniest of fractions; just enough to identify that she was trapped.. inside a hospital.Without warning, she sat up straight and scanned the room of terror. Monitors, medical kits, and more monitors.As if expecting to see blood -in a continuous stream- Harmony gave a sideways glance to the tiled floor. Her guess was far from correct. There, below her, were her blond, golden locks. On the floor, lifeless, deceased. As much as she tried to keep it in, the pain came out like an uproar from her throat in the form of a silent scream in globules from her eyes. Harmony's eyes were of the palest of blues. Not an ordinary sky-blue, not the colour of puny bluebells that sprung from the pavement. No, not at all. Harmony's eyes were sea-blue, crystal-blue-shimmering, crashing, churning. Looking into Harmony's eyes, you could identify the waves colliding with the shore, foam flying in the air. Her eyes were that kind of blue that were comfortable, warming, familiar.

It had easily been 5 minutes until she realised she had company. A young nurse of about 20 years old was stood near the hospital bed, frowning slightly. Harmony could tell she was troubled. From the back of her mind, Harmony remembered. Becky. Becky, the nurse who had cared for Harmony since birth. Becky, who had risked her own job for her. Becky. Suddenly grinning, the young lady said, "Well, took you long enough to wake!" Harmony, however, wasn't paying attention. She needed answers: how she had arrived here- when she had arrived here! At the most sporadic of times, she had a flashback. Her father had abandoned her as a baby, left to starve in a wooden box, but why? What kind of father would do something so barbaric and catastrophic as that to his own daughter? A selfish one, of course. 

Before even wondering about the consequences, Harmony blurted out, "I need to leave." Becky stared back at her in disbelief, in wonder, maybe a little in awe. No time to explain. Harmony thought. Leaving the hospital bed, leaving the entrance to the dreaded location, leaving Becky gawping like a deranged blue whale, everything was happening so rapidly. That was the way Harmony liked it. She was off, off to receive answers, off to find her father, off to find out the truth...

   It had been an expanded 5 days before the rain came. Harmony had only a jagged nightgown- ripped at the seams- to keep her company, to survive. She hid her saturated form under her unclean nightdress as she slowly sauntered in the soft rain, small pellets of water spitting onto her raw hands. The remainder of the drops decorated the asphalt. In the rainwater, the familiar flash of police sirens were brought to Harmony's attention. She lifted her head just a bit.

Harmony had to force herself to survive on no food or water for 2 weeks; only a swampy, green blanket left discarded on the roadside. By the time she had discovered the obliterated tent, her lips were ferociously chapped by the gale, her eyes were weakening by the second and every step was torture. The storm was spine-chilling. Harmony was close to giving up, when she spied the tent. It was a tee-pee, green and camouflaged. It took all her strength to lift her head to observe the shelter. Harmony was too tired, too weak, to wonder if anyone had already claimed it; she collapsed. Thud! went her weak body. Before long, she was crying herself to sleep, she slept in tears, roasting by the fire. Without any thought, her eyelids abruptly shut, waiting for the morning to come...

In the morning, all of the trees were tightly knit, like is was a tiny strand in a massive plethora of life. Green leaves, yellow leaves, red leaves. It was a lively rainbow of rich, autumnal colours. The comforting scent of wood smoke and water drifted in the air. It was a picture of graceful serenity, one of which would endure for many long years. 

Harmony sat up, realising where she was. In unexplained awe, she gazed upon her fortunate surroundings. "Woah." she whispered. Suddenly, her head whipped around, tousled hair swinging spontaneously. Footsteps, she was certain.  Harmony scanned her whereabouts, searching for any sign of impetuous movement. Probably just a swallow, she thought. Harmony's mind changed, as there, in the distance, was the silhouette of a human, staring. He looked about 13, with contaminated, blond hair and piercing green eyes. When he saw the confused girl staring, he sprinted away. That's when Harmony noticed something in the corner of the cosy tent. Some fruit and a bowl of water...

          Harmony stared at the treats unaccountably, as though they were an extremely hard algebra question she was trying to solve. Without any second thought, she scoffed the heavenly cuisine in less than a minute, gasping for breath. Slowly but surely, a faint smile annoyingly tugged at Harmony's lips. With scandalous split ends and ghastly breath, she ran. She ran as fast as her legs could take her; her heart beating with exhilaration.

    Harmony's feet pounded the mud with all of the grace of a sack full of wet concrete.Her head bobbed loosely from side to side with every footfall, her eyes heavy in their sockets. The girl savagely pushed the unwanted branches out of her path, out of her way. I need to find the boy! she thought. Harmony heard a faint rustling in the bushes. Insanely, she tried to dive into the lush green leaves, but failed. Her spinning head had hit something hard, something stone-cold. The tangle of leaves just wouldn't budge! Maybe a secret passageway! Harmony deduced. She, in her rightful mind, knew there could be no such thing, but still, no harm in trying. Of course, it wouldn't give way. The girl felt exasperated; Harmony had only thought it, was that such a crime? She had turned to walk away, forget the horrible and pointless experience, when a light shone from the irritable bush.

"Curious..." Harmony whispered. She tiptoed toward it, with curiosity. Suddenly, with green lights shining, the bush walked away, with legs and all, to reveal a hidden cave. Being the type of person that loved adventure, she crawled through, not stopping to wonder about the dangers that could be lurking there.

Harmony stared in awe. She gasped, her face glowing, with happiness bubbling and boiling in her body. Nothing was as it seemed here, it was like a icy wonderland...